Page 139 of Axis of Fire

My father stared at me in confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about?” my mother scoffed. “We’ve been at a ski resort for almost a week. We only came back yesterday.”

She gestured toward her bandaged arm.

Now it was my turn to stare.

“You’re joking, right?”

My voice sounded distant.

“Four days ago, you invited me to lunch. When I arrived, someone shoved me into a car, drugged me, and the next thing I knew, I woke up strapped to a hospital bed.”

I swallowed.

“You were even waving goodbye through the window like you’d finally gotten rid of a problem.”

I studied their faces carefully.

No satisfaction.

No guilt.

No mockery.

Only confusion.

Shock, even.

“Adeline can confirm it,” my mother said.

I glanced at Airis.

He was still watching my parents with that unreadable expression.

“I couldn’t have imagined all of this,” I said quietly.

Then I looked back at them.

“And what happened at the house?”

“What do you mean, what happened?” my mother frowned.

“The backyard looks like an actual murder scene,” I replied, no longer bothering to sound detached. “The pool water is crimson, and judging by the smell... it was blood.”

Neither of my parents moved while listening to me, though I noticed my father’s hands trembling slightly around the magazine he was still trying to hold.

“I thought that’s why you left Adeline with Aunt Elisa.”

“Not because of that,” my father replied slowly. “I started feeling sick at the ski resort, so I decided to get checked out.”

“And I chose to stay here with my husband,” my mother added before narrowing her eyes at us. “What the hell is going on? Which one of you got involved in something dangerous?”

I sighed.

“Margo, I quit everything illegal years ago,” my father muttered defensively.

His eyes widened a second later before shifting toward me.